Second City titan snubs Premier League job as Leighton is latest to turn down role

A second captain of industry has rejected an approach concerning the chairmanship of the Premier League, which is proving a difficult position to fill despite its prestige.

Allan Leighton, former boss of the Royal Mail and Asda, has followed BA chairman Sir Martin Broughton in not wanting to take talks with headhunters Odgers any further.

Broughton believed his sports investment fund could be a conflict of interest, while Leighton felt he was too busy with his involvement in eight businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

Snub: Allan Leighton is the second industry captain to turn down the top Premier League job

He also has memories of his difficult period as deputy chairman of Leeds United when the Peter Ridsdale regime imploded.

There are pressures on the Premier League to find a big-name leader to compare with new FA chairman Greg Dyke, whose appointment last month came after a job search that started in November - the same time as the PL hunt.

It is understood no recommendation will be ready in time for the clubs' meeting next Thursday, with the process expected to carry on until the end of the month, if not longer.

Yet the PL post comes with less exposure than the FA equivalent, as well as a smaller workload and a significantly larger salary.

One man still on the list is Gary Hoffman, chairman of the Football Foundation and former head of Barclaycard and Northern Rock. He has played an important role during Barclays' sponsorship of the top flight but might be seen as too close an ally of PL chief executive Richard Scudamore.

Paolo Di Canio has been engulfed in a firestorm over his political views since becoming Sunderland head coach.

But the word from the players is that they prefer his training sessions to those of his predecessor Martin O'Neill.

Lawyers acting for racing pundit John McCririck in his £3m ageism case against Channel 4 will have taken an interest in the network introducing Irish TV's Brian Gleeson as a seemingly like-for-like betting analyst at Aintree on Thursday.

Gleeson is working at the Grand National meeting alongside Tanya Stevenson, who had been left isolated in the betting ring at the Cheltenham Festival without long-time partner Big Mac.

A C4 spokesman said: 'We have used Brian before. He's here in his capacity as an Irish racing expert.'

The FA's much-criticised protocol committee, whose priority is ensuring their food and drink at Wembley is up to standard, have at least got one football matter right.

The blazers rejected a ludicrous recommendation from Hampshire FA chief Neil Cassar that a playing career should not count towards long-service awards for football administrators.

Meanwhile, the first FA rule book from 1863, insured for £1m, is on display at Wembley as part of the national stadium tour.

The extra exposure of football's most valuable artefact during the FA's 150th anniversary has led to its value now being put at closer to £2m.

Elton's Rocket men

Sir Elton John, the former Watford chairman, has another significant sporting interest with the formation of his athlete management agency Rocket Sports, which already has cyclists Laura Trott, Geraint Thomas and Ben Swift on its books along with cricketer Steven Davies.

The agency is run by Luke Lloyd-Davies, who manages the private office of Sir Elton and his partner David Furnish, with the cycling arm managed by Mark Sinclair, a former adidas marketing executive.

Rocket man: Elton John's sports agency already has a number of stars on their books

Golden girl: Laura Trott is on the books of Rocket Sports

Their base in Hammersmith with the Rocket Music division of Elton's empire gives sporting clients access to an infrastructure that includes a resident psychologist.

Another member of music royalty, rapper Jay-Z, has launched a similarly named agency Roc Nation Sports, whose first signing is New York Yankees baseball star Robinson Cano.

The RFU management, who are called to account more often than most sporting bodies, are going to sleep easier in their beds now firebrand Alex Murphy has left the RFU council.

Murphy, who always fronted up at meetings when so many of his colleagues were afraid to do so, is moving to India to run a division of agricultural business conglomerate DSCL in Delhi.